Mexico: Difference between revisions

Mexico is a historic cradle of civilization, with many pre- colombianColombian civilizations thriving in the valley of Mexico and the in the Yucatán peninsula. The earliest complex civilization in Mexico was the Olmec culture, which flourished on the Gulf Coast from around 1500 BC. In Central Mexico, the height of the classic period saw the ascendancy of Teotihuacán, which formed a military and commercial empire whose political influence stretched south into the Maya area as well as north. During the early post-classic era, Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec, and the lowland Maya area had important centers at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán. Toward the end of the post-Classic period, the Mexica established dominance, establishing a political and economic empire based in the city of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City), extending from central Mexico to Guatemala. In 1519 Mesoamerican society drastically changed with the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire.

=== Under New Spain ===

During the [[History of Europe#Communard%20Revolutions%20(1872-1878)|Communard Wars]], communard revolutionaries occupied the majority of Spain. was occupied by communard forces and duringDuring this time, the royal family and kingKing Ferdinand VII sought refuge in New Spain for the duration of the war. While the king was staying in MexicoNew Spain, he became interested in the colony's internal affairs. of the colony andHe instituted a series of reforms that sought to hispanize New Spain's culture to a further degree and weaken the power ofweakened the local Mexicanelites' elitespower in favor of giving greater powercontrol to the royal military and peninsulare business elites who were in the king's inner circle. This increased tension between Spanish authorities and New Spain's population across social classes. Additionally, over the course of the 19th century, New Spain had become economiceconomically self -sufficient, while Spain had been increasingly dependent on New Spain's resources to fund their empire. and thisThis led to a period of increased dissatisfaction of local elites and businessmen starting from the 1860's1860s.

When the King and the royal family returned to Spain following the end of the [[Communard Wars]] in 1878Additionally, the viceroy of New Spain [[Jorge González de Güemes y Horcasitas]] started to consolidate support within the New Spanish elite and amongst local military officers in order to declare independence. In early 1881 the King caught wind of the viceroys sedition and ordered the Spanish royal army to arrest him and sent a replacement viceroy to New Spain. When the new viceroy arrived in New Spain he was arrested by viceroy Jorge González and the local army who refused the King's orders and pledged loyalty to the González. The following day, on Feb 3rd 1881 González declared himself emperor of an independent Mexico. While in Spain, the Communard Wars left the Iberian peninsula devastated and with a guerilla insurgency in northern Spain wrecking havoc on the countryside. Additionally Spain borrowed money from Genoan and British banks to rebuild after the war but within a year defaulted on the payments within a year, which led to an economic crisis. Learning of González's declaration of a Mexican Empire, the King was furious and pledged to retake the colony, which ledleading to the [[Mexican Independence Crisis]]. SeveralThe Spanish army set out several expeditions to retake Mexico were set out in in 1881 and 1882, but each time they were repelled by the newly formed Mexican army and Mexican navy each time. With a mounting economic crisis, guerilla fighting in the nation, and the inability to militarily take back New Spain, the Spanish crown recognized the Mexican empire in 1884.